


Blood Loss

by Rhinozilla



Series: Detroit 07 [12]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Blood Loss, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hank Anderson & Connor Friendship, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Poor Connor, Protective Hank Anderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-23 04:14:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19143370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhinozilla/pseuds/Rhinozilla
Summary: Connor assured Hank that androids were not as affected by lower thirium volume as a human would be by comparable blood loss. Hank is not convinced and is unfortunately proven right.





	Blood Loss

**Author's Note:**

> We had a blood drive at work this week, and it made me think some DBH thoughts. This is the result.

The DPD was hosting a blood drive that day, and the irony of the situation was not lost on Hank.

“And we’re walking,” he repeated in a carefully calm and even voice, hands on Connor’s shoulders as he steered him toward their desks. “And we’re walking…and we’re not bumping into that trash can…Good…And we’re walking…”

“I am capable of walking, Hank,” Connor said with a resigned tone. “Androids are still able to function at a lower thirium volume compared to a human with the same relative blood loss.”

It didn’t go unnoticed that Connor did not, however, pull away from Hank’s steadying hands as they made their way to the workstations.

“Maybe, but that was a shit ton of thirium you lost back there,” Hank said, aiming Connor toward his chair. “And we’re sitting…”

Connor turned around enough to give Hank a slightly exasperated look. “Hank, I promise…”

“Sit.” Hank nudged him down, and he went without further fight.

As soon as he sat down, Connor seemed to deflate, sinking against the back of the chair with an audible sigh of exhaustion.

“Uh huh, yeah, you’re just fine,” Hank muttered.

Connor laboriously moved his chair closer to his desk, giving his elbow something to rest against and leaning his head against his hand. “Okay, you win, Lieutenant.”

Hank didn’t feel like much of a winner at the moment.

On their way back from one crime scene they had almost literally driven through a live crime scene as it was unfolding. Two humans had been harassing a deviant outside a warehouse on the scarce part of the city. The sight of Hank’s car had scared off the attackers, but not before they had nearly fatally injured the android.

Hank still wasn’t sure where all of that blood had come from, but luckily Connor had assessed the damage quickly and managed to stop the active bleeding. Shutdown from thirium loss had been imminent, in his words. While Hank had called it in, Connor had opened a panel on his chest just below where a human’s collar bone would be, unhooked one of his own thirium lines, and attached it directly to one of the lines hanging out of the victim’s open wound. He had already started siphoning thirium from his own supply to the other android by the time Hank hung up the phone and realized what he was doing.

By the time a transport arrived from the nearby android care facility, the victim’s vitals had stabilized, and Connor had reported that the victim’s thirium levels were now at 74 percent. Still dangerous, but no longer a shutdown threat. His own levels had dropped to the low 80s. His hands had been a little clumsy in replacing his thirium line and shutting the panel, and he had been more than a little wobbly getting to his feet.

Hank wanted to slap him upside the head for that stunt, but he had decided to wait until Connor had recovered enough. Instead, he had hauled them both back to the precinct to file the reports on both cases.

“You stay put.” He pointed at him for good measure, though Connor didn’t look like he had any intention of moving from his desk for a while. “I’ll get you some thirium.” He shook his head and walked away, grumbling under his breath.

The tables in the break room had partially empty boxes of cookies and cups of punch on them: a typical staple of blood drive day at the precinct. Two officers were milling near the TV, their sleeves still rolled up with the bandages showing at the crook of their arms. Luckily, the rest of the bullpen was a pretty thin crowd at the moment.

“Dumbass…could have gotten himself…reckless…” he grumbled, rooting through the cabinets.

“Thirium’s above the fridge,” Ben Collins chimed in, munching on a cookie near the entryway.

Hank looked at him, looked at the top of the fridge, and spotted the telltale blue bottles.

“Thanks, Ben.” He reached up, grabbed a bottle, paused, and grabbed a second. “How’d you know I was searching for it?”

“He was looking a little woozy back there.” Ben pointed with a thumb. “Just kinda put it together. Get into something hairy this morning?”

“Something like that,” Hank said sourly. “Idiot just did a direct line transfusion to an android victim on the scene.”

“Sounds noble.”

“Sounds stupid! Ben, he just yanked a line out and hooked up to the guy. And it didn’t look like androids were designed to do something like that. It looked rough and ugly,” he fumed.

“Did he save the vic?”

“Yeah, but it was close.”

Ben offered an infuriatingly casual shrug. “Sounds like he had a very human reaction to me.”

Hank glared at him. “How the fuck does any of that sound human?”

Ben paused. “You’re right. What sounds human about…donating blood?” He gestured vaguely to the blood drive posters around the break room.

Hank continued to glare, and Ben just stared back at him, unaffected by it.

Instead, Ben reached into the nearest box and pulled out a cookie. He held it up in offering. “Snickerdoodle?”

Hank glowered and paused too long. Tina’s hand swept into view, plucking the cookie from Ben’s outstretched fingers as she sauntered by with a light “Yoink! Too slow!”

Hank rolled his eyes and started to walk away. Ben stopped him, reaching for the table again.

“Wait. Here.” He unscrewed the bottle of thirium in Hank’s nearer hand and…dropped a purple crazy straw into it.

“…The fuck, Ben?”

“Hey, c’mon,” Ben smirked. “He’s already having a bad day. As far as I know, androids can’t, uh, reproduce their own blood like humans do. They NEED bottles of this stuff to replace every ounce that they lose. So that’s gotta suck, so why not a little something fun to…help? I dunno…Do androids have a sense of fun?”

Hank didn’t remove the loopy straw, but he didn’t let up either. “Whatever.”

He left the break room and returned to the bullpen. Connor had a hand resting at the front of his terminal as though to interface with it, but he looked like he’d given up before actually initiating it. He looked…drained felt like a weird word to use…but accurate.

“Here.” Hank deposited the open bottle of thirium on the desk in front of him.

“Thank…you?” Connor faltered as he took in the purple straw sticking out of the bottle.

Eying it curiously he picked up the thirium and started to slowly sip at it through the straw.

Hank was determined to hold onto his sour mood…but an android using a crazy straw might just break him…especially when the idiot looked so amused by it himself.

“What is the purpose of this?” Connor asked, tilting the bottle so the straw swung back and forth.

Hank shrugged, logging back into his terminal. “Just something…fun to balance out how shitty today has been so far.”

A quiet moment passed, until Connor finished the first bottle of the thirium and the straw started to make a dry sucking noise.

“I apologize if my actions at the crime scene upset you, Lieutenant,” Connor said, eyes on the second bottle of thirium as he opened it. “It was the only course of action that I knew would save the victim’s life.”

Hank sighed, sitting back and folding his arms. “I’m not…mad. You just freaked me out. I turn around for one second, I turn back, and you’ve yanked out part of your…veins or whatever.” He shook his head and pinched the skin between his eyes briefly. “I get why you did it, and yeah, it was the right thing given the circumstances. It was just…I’d never seen an android do that before.”

Connor’s expression remained passive, but he lifted a hand to rub at his collar where the unorthodox transfusion had taken place.

“I don’t know that any of us have before now. It was…spur of the moment.”

“You okay? You didn’t damage anything in there doing that?” Hank pointed to his collar.

Connor shook his head. “No. It’s just…sore.”

Hank snorted at that. “Yeah, that sounds pretty human…”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Hank gestured to the second bottle of thirium. “Better drink up. I don’t want you passing out if we get called out again today.”

Connor made a noise of agreement but paused. His eyes shifted from Hank, to the thirium, to the crazy straw, to Hank, and back to the thirium. In one short movement, he plucked the crazy straw from the empty bottle and dropped it into the fresh one. Only then did he pick up the second bottle and start drinking from it.

Hank finally caved with a laugh and swiveled his chair back around to face his terminal.


End file.
